Students

Students savings for Canadian households

Students (and parents helping them) face tuition plus a second budget: housing, food, transit, and textbooks. Used books, meal planning, and student transit discounts are not glamorous. They are how the semester stays solvent.

Two university roommates unloading groceries from cloth bags onto a small apartment kitchen counter.

Food & Groceries

Canadian student grocery discounts

Food Basics Tuesdays, Metro 10% days, ID rules, and how to stack Moi without overpaying the shelf.

Read the guide → A tall stack of thick used university textbooks with plain worn covers next to a backpack on a library table.

Education

Textbook costs: inclusive access, open textbooks and used books

When to opt out of day-one digital billing, free open textbooks, and used, rental and library options.

Read the guide → Parents helping their daughter carry boxes into a university residence room.

Post-secondary

First-year university costs

Tuition, residence, books and one-time costs, plus RESP and credits.

Read the guide → A college trades workshop next to a university lecture hall, seen across a campus lawn.

Paying for university and college

College vs university cost

Tuition, fees and years.

Read the guide → A small student residence room with a bed, a desk, a mini fridge and a window to campus.

Student housing

Residence, home or renting

Full eight-month costs compared, with 2026-27 residence fees.

Read the guide → A university dining hall with students eating at long tables and a food serving line.

Student living costs

University meal plans

2026-27 costs and what you get.

Read the guide → Three university students cooking together in a shared residence kitchen, one stirring pasta and two chopping vegetables.

Residence

Residence grocery strategy

Mini-fridge rules, roommate Costco math, and a sample $50 week.

Read the guide → An international student in a winter coat carrying two full grocery bags along a snowy sidewalk.

Arrival

International student groceries

First-week discounter kit, student ID days, and specialty foods on a budget.

Read the guide → University students with backpacks boarding a city bus on a campus street.

Students

U-Pass, transit, and shared cars

$47.85 U-Pass BC and $128.15 TTC post-secondary vs young-driver insurance.

Read the guide → Two university students studying in a small dorm room, one on a laptop and one with a textbook.

Campus

Student discounts and roommate math

Flankers versus student marketing, and contracts that end with the lease.

Read the guide → A university student unboxing a laptop in her residence room.

Laptops

Student and education pricing

Who qualifies and how to compare against sales.

Read the guide → A new graduate in a gown and cap hugging her parents outside on a sunny day.

Students

No-fee banking after graduation

Age cut-offs, adult no-fee alternatives, and a payroll move before the first fee posts.

Read the guide → A student at a campus health clinic reception asking a question.

Student costs

Health plan opt-out

Keep, coordinate or drop the student plan.

Read the guide → A first-year university student walking across a campus quad with a backpack, smiling with friends.

Federal grants

Canada Student Grant 2026-27

Amounts, income thresholds and what ends in July 2027.

Read the guide → A woman studying at her kitchen table late in the evening after work, a textbook open.

Student aid

Part-time student grant

Up to $2,520 for 2026-27.

Read the guide → A student mother studying with a toddler on her lap at home.

Student aid

Grants for students with dependants

$280 per dependant a month.

Read the guide → A student using a wheelchair working at a library desk with an adjustable monitor arm.

Student aid

Grants for students with disabilities

$2,800 plus up to $20,000.

Read the guide → An Ontario college student sitting on campus steps with a coffee, looking thoughtful.

OSAP

OSAP 2026-27 changes

The 25% grant cap, what stays federal and how to plan the loan.

Read the guide → A university campus on a rainy day with students under umbrellas and evergreens.

Student aid

StudentAid BC 2026-27

Access Grant, loans and cut-offs.

Read the guide → A university campus quad with brick buildings and students walking in autumn.

Student aid

Alberta Student Aid 2026-27

Grants, loan limits and repayment.

Read the guide → A student at a bank branch shaking hands with an adviser.

Paying for university and college

Student line of credit vs loan

Bank credit or government aid.

Read the guide → A recent graduate in a cap and gown hugging her parents outside a convocation hall.

Student loan repayment

Grace period and RAP

Interest, the Repayment Assistance Plan and the tax credit.

Read the guide → A hand placing a plain receipt into a folder labelled only with a coloured tab.

Tuition and tax credits

Student loan interest credit

Line 31900 after interest-free federal loans.

Read the guide → A university student and his mother sitting at a dining table, the mother smiling and patting his shoulder while he holds a closed plain folder.

Tuition credit

Transfer to a parent

Up to $5,000 of the federal amount via Schedule 11.

Read the guide → A student loading boxes into a small moving van for a move to a new city for school.

Tuition and tax credits

Student moving expenses

Line 21900 for school, summer jobs and co-op.

Read the guide → A man in his fifties chatting with a younger classmate before a university lecture.

Student costs and adult learning

Mature student admission

Rules, bridging and costs.

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